Tuesday, July 13 - Round 2, Day 2 & the Opening of Joseph!

Hi Bloggies,

A quick entry (hahaha... is there such a thing in Cheryl's world??). Today is Day 2 of Chemo Round 2. So far, so good... but then, in Round 1 I didn't start feeling the feet until Day 3, so tomorrow will be a biggie day :D Of course, I am running late (read: slow) today... and I really don't have a good excuse other than I'm running late :) But, I'm not too concerned. After all, my hours down at the TUTS office have kind of changed now that we are opening the shows. Instead of being down there from 1-6pm or 7pm, which is pretty standard... I'm now down there until 10:30pm - 11pm, depending on which show is running. Joseph goes until about 10pm, and Singin' goes until about 10:30pm... so give or take half an hour after the curtain comes down.

Tonight is the opening night of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We are doing it with a twist which makes it quite different from all the other productions of Joseph someone may have seen before. We are sticking to the story, and of course, the music... but the show is set in the 60s. We have a bunch of hippies helping a bunch of young kids put on a show. Meanwhile, they are missing a "12th brother", so every night a child is selected from the audience and the show is built around including this child as part of the show. It is going to totally make some child's night! They will be a star for the night and integrated into the show, even though they have never been to any rehearsals. Very clever. At intermission, the child will get his/her very own dressing room that the parents can come and visit the child in. The set designer of both Joseph and Singin' in the Rain, has designed/dressed up the dressing room to make it a magical room for any child. It has the mirrors and makeup lights, etc. But there are also shelves full of candy jars, lollipops, etc. And of course, there's a big STAR on the dressing room door :) At the end of the show, the child is actually dressed in a gorgeous "coat of many colours" just like Joseph's... and the child gets to keep that coat as a keepsake of their magical experience when they were part of the Joseph cast and show. As the cast hands the child back over to the parents, it's a very touching moment... which I'll explain after closing night. I don't want to give it away for anyone who is reading this blog and will be coming to the show :)

So tonight is Opening night of Joseph... tomorrow is opening night of Singin' in the Rain :) We shall see how the feet are doing by Thurs... if they are still doing well, then YAYAYAYA!! It means I think I can survive this next 5 rounds of chemo... and still keep up with my theatre activities :)

Ok... must go and get dressed, pack the car with the dog and our dinners, then must go pick up flowers for some of my kids in the show :)

Happy summer!!

Cheryl

Sunday, July 11th, 2010 - Cycle #2 begins on Monday

Hiya bloggies,

Well, it certainly has been an interesting Chemo Cycle #1... not one that I wish to repeat again. At least, not one I wish to repeat with the same intense pain in my heels that I experienced this go round. I'm still amazed that the side affect was that it attacked my heels I (not a known side affect) and that it happened so quickly. I had taken the first pills on the Wednesday night and by the Friday, I was feeling the pain to the point that it was uncomfortable and I knew something was up. My oncologist wasn't sure that what I was experiencing was actually related to the chemo because she figured if I was going to have any side affects, they probably wouldn't show themselves until the third or fourth cycle... not less than two days later. But, sure enough, it was the chemo because the longer I was on it, the more intense the pain became (by about Day 8 I didn't think it could get any more intense, but I was wrong). I did make it thru until Day 14, but on the 14th day, I couldn't even walk around my carpeted apartment without being in tears.

Anywho... as soon as I stopped the chemo, within 24-30 hours, the pain had totally disappeared. That spoke volumes to Sharlene (oncologist). It proved that the pain was definitely caused by the chemo and was probably related to either the dosage or the length of continual time I was on it. If you all remember (if I remembered to log it in the last blog entry) we lowered the dosage from 1650mg twice/day to 1500mg twice/day. Well, we don't want to lower the dosage anymore to the point where it becomes ineffective. That wouldn't make any sense. And my other option at this point, if we decide to stop the oral chemo is to go back on the infusion, which would mean the surgical procedure to install another port in my chest, just below the collarbone. I would then have to go to the Cancer Agency every two weeks and sit in the chemo chair for 4-5 hours while they infuse me with a big old dose of liquid chemo directly into my blood system. I would them be switched over to the portable chemo pump which would be attached by IV to the port and I'd have to wear the chemo pump for 3 days. I am trying to avoid that at all costs. In the summer, it is so inconvenient to wear this pump, which you can't get wet, making showers a real challenge. Even getting dressed is a real challenge because of the IV and pump.

So, we are going to give the oral chemo another try. Only this time we are going to change the scheduling of it. I will be taking my 1500mg twice/day, Monday - Friday this week. Then I'll have the two days on the weekend off for a break. I will then go back on it for Mon - Fri, then be off for a week for recovery. Although that week will actually end up being 9 days because the last pills will be Friday night, then I get Sat/Sun, Mon-Fri, then Sat/Sun off before starting up again on the following Mon. We are hoping that with having the weekends as a break, the pain won't be quite as intense. There's no doubt that there will be pain but with having the 2-day break, it may go away over the weekend, then will hit sometime again when I'm back on the chemo, only to go away for the weekend and the 9 days off will let me have time to regenerate my red/white cells and NOT be in pain :)

What's a girl to do? I obviously have to give it a try and if it's doable, then this is a good thing because it will keep me off the IV version :)

Meanwhile, TUTS opens this week! Oy vey! Both shows are going to be very good but as is always the case the week or so before the shows open, you can cut the tension in the air in the office. People are running around checking and double checking that everything is in place. There is sooooo much to do just before the shows open that we don't have to do once they are up and running. There are glitches to be ironed out, there are invitees for opening night and did we catch those that need to be invited vs those that should never have been on the Opening Night guest list but have been for some years. Tempers are short and I won't even get into the micro-managing that goes on, which I absolutely hate! But opening night(s) happen on Tuesday and Wednesday and once both shows are up and running and once we can hope to have a long run of good weather, everything should calm down and we can just enjoy the summertime experience.

I, of course, will have to play everything by ear on a day to day basis. Like I say, if I can walk with minimal pain, then I will be spending my summer down at TUTS. If there are days where the pain makes it too difficult to walk, then I'll have to stay at home. I'm not sure how many cycles I will end up having to do. We won't be getting a CT scan until probably sometime in Sept/Oct and that CT scan will show us whether or not the chemo is having any effect. If it is, then great we will probably finish the standard 6 cycles. If it isn't, then we will probably have to go on the infusion chemo.

Meanwhile... everyone think wonderful thoughts that the pill form will work... and the sun will be out until August 21st . It can pour with rain on Aug 22nd.... but we need sun and/or dry weather until Aug 21st :)

Cheryl

Thursday, July 1, 2010 - Happy Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian blog-mates... and an early Happy July 4th to my American blog-mates!!

Well, it has been a while since my last blog entry... and that's because I've been trying to adjust to my chemo treatment that I'm back on. I was soooo hoping that this oral (pill form) chemo was going to be just great. I was pretty confident that it would be because I have been on it before... back in May 2007 when I was on 6 weeks of radiation. I don't remember having any problems with it and if I did feel tired, that would have been the combination of radiation and chemo.

So it did come as the biggest surprise that this time on the oral chemo I had a horrible reaction... where it totally attacked the bottom of both my heels. It's hard to describe the pain but for anyone who has had Plantars Fasciitis at the bottom of your foot, think of that pain X 10 and in both feet at the same time. Next to impossible to walk on. Well, not "next to" but actually impossible. I did attempt to shuffle from the apartment to the car and the car to the apartment. But in the 2nd week I realized this was going to be a huge problem when I was in absolute agony to just walking the few feet and few stairs to the car in the carport. Forget going grocery shopping or any errands/tasks!

In this second week I have been put on Oxycodone along with the Tylenol 3s (very two hours) and Tramadol. My oncologist told me on Tuesday, my last day of chemo for Cycle 1, to not take the evening dose. I now am in my "recovery week" which is the week with no chemo so that my red/white blood cells can regnerate. Amazing... by missing that evening chemo, the next day, with the help of the Oxycodone and Tylenol, my feet did a rapid improvement. I could stand on them! I could walk around the apartment with no tears! I could take Bridget out to the back lane for her late night pee! It was like a miracle.

Today, I cut waaaaay back on my Tylenol 3s, and Oxycodone. My feet are still way better than when I was on the chemo, but more painful than when I was on the meds yesterday. So I'm thinking I'm going to have to taper off the pain meds a little more slowly and not just stop cold turkey.

Meanwhile... I will have my appt. with Sharlene next Thurs, July 8th and we are going to have to go over any other options we have. There is no way I'm going to be able to go through with 6 cycles of this chemo... I can't handle that kind of pain. For any of you who want to know what it's like (sans the pain)... from the moment you get up in the morning and put your feet on the floor from the bed... try this exercise. DO NOT let your heels touch the floor. Try to get around your home/outside/work by using any part of your feet, as long at the heels don't touch the ground. That is what it has been like for me. The minute you put your heel on the ground, even just to rest your foot, the most excruciating pain will shoot up the heel... and it's the same for both feet.

Hehehehe... another thing that I totally forgot was how you can get so tired with no warning. Here it is Canada Day today and although I had no committed plans, I wasn't expecting to be soooo tired! But most chemos work this way... the "fatigue" or "tireds" don't really hit until you are off the chemo for the "recovery" week. It means the chemo is doing what it's suppose to... which is killing off cells (good and bad). When you kill off your good cells, you get incredibly tired. Well, I was feeling so good "physically" for the two weeks I was on the chemo, except for the painful feet, that I totally forgot at some point I was probably going to feel "tired"... really tired.

Hehe... all the better that today is a holiday and I'm not expected to be anywhere :) And sooooo good that I stocked up on a couple of books that I want to read. I'm reading one right now called "Glitter Baby". Just a big old summer reading novel, but I'm really enjoying it!!

Tomorrow afternoon, Bridget and I will be going to the TUTS office. Both shows/casts are now down at the park on the stage at Malkin Bowl. We haven't opened yet, but they are there rehearsing and doing their tech weeks. Both shows are going to be fabulous!! Seriously, if any of you reading this blog are in the Vancouver area this summer, you really should take in the magic of watching a Broadway musical in the middle of the most gorgeous park in the world. To be watching a musical under the stars and surrounded by huge evergreen trees... it really makes for a magical evening. Just remember to bring a jacket and blanket, no matter how warm it may be during the day. It does get chilly in the Bowl surrounded by all those trees. I don't think I can even pick favourites at this time... they both are going to be wonderful -- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will be brilliant for those of you who want to bring the whole family and Singin' In The Rain is going to be brilliant for all of you who love the classic movie.

Soooo, I think that's about it for now. I'm sure there must be other things to talk about but today is a "tired" day. I figure I wanted to get a blog entry up and as for pictures and things, I'll do that in another entry :)

Have a wonderful long weekend EVERYONE, whether you are celebrating being a Canadian or celebrating being an American!! It's all good :)

Hugggggs,

Cheryl

Friday, June 18th, 2010 -- Day at home :)

Good Friday evening to one and all!

Where did this week go? It appears to have gone by in a blur... so hopefully I'm not going to repeat myself in anything I've already mentioned. I totally forgot that syndrome that I may be hit with again... the infamous -- CHEMO BRAIN!! Run and hide!! Then again, no, don't do that because if I find you I may forget I knew you and will think I'm making a new friend .

By Chemo Brain, I think a lot of gals... those who have gone through pregnancy and those who have gone through menopause, will be able to relate to it. Chemo is a systemic treatment, meaning it goes throughout your body, even if it's been prescribed for one particular area (IE: my lungs and kidney)... creating havoc and chaos wherever it goes. Including the brain!! It can be very frustrating where you have just put something down and then forget where you put it even though it's right in front of you. Or, like today, telling myself, "Ok, in 10 mins I have to go down and take the load of laundry out of the washer and put it in the dryer". 30 minutes later I think, "Gee, since I'm home, I should do a load of laundry!" only to go and get the laundry hamper from the bedroom and find it's not there. Why? Because it's downstairs with the laundry already done and waiting to go into the dryer! Arrrrgh!!

Well, the first three days on chemo haven't been too bad. Today is the first day I've felt out of sorts. Nothing specific... nothing I can really pinpoint, just an overall feeling of the "blahs" and lack of energy. My neighbour, Toby, who is an amazing support for me (she has totally taken over making sure Bridget gets two fabulous long walks every day... in the morning and then when we come home from the office), mentioned that it is possible that maybe my body is also just tired, since I rarely slow down. So add chemo to the ongoing schedule, perhaps my body is just saying "slow down the pace a bit". I told her that this pace is nothing exceptional... it's always been my normal pace... and she said , "But you aren't as young as you used to be." Hahaha... valid point!

But today, the one thing I did notice is the pain at the bottom of my feet. One of the common side affects of this particular kind of chemo is "hand and foot syndrome", which is where the skin peels, cracks and/or becomes blistered. Well neither of my hands or feet are doing that, this is more of an internal pain which makes it very uncomfortable to walk. My oncologist did say it's possible this chemo will aggravate any joint pain (oh great... me with severe arthritis, this is not something I need as well), so I'm wondering if it will also aggravate any existing nerve damage pain? That would certainly explain the feet issue today.

Anywho... I had already decided that I was staying home today and did think I'd catch up on all my laundry. I'd like to get it done and then just do little loads as needed. But, it wasn't meant to be. I did a load last night and got a load done today. That leaves one load to do... maybe tomorrow or Sunday.

So far, the nausea/queasiness has been very minimal and I've been able to control that with good old gravol. So if gravol can keep it at bay, then we know it is only a minimal reaction and let's hope it stays that way.

Fatigue? I don't think I'd rate it as fatigue per se, but definitely I've been tired today and lacking in any bursts of energy. I lay down around 3pm with my book and must have fallen asleep because I woke up when Toby came in to take Bridget for a walk around 5pm. So, while they were gone I was going to get up to put Bridget's dinner in her bowl for when she came home... but I must have fallen asleep because they came home around 7pm and I didn't hear them. Toby fed Bridget and I woke up when Bridget had finished her dinner and came to snuggle up with me on the bed ;)

I'm up now... and wondering if maybe I should just curl up in bed with my book, or stay up and play on the computer? Hmmm... decisions, decisions! I guess I'll just play it by ear and if I feel particularly sleepy, then off to the bedroom we go.

So that's my Day... Day 3 was the first day of noticing that maybe there is something to being on chemo, but nothing severe enough to be worried. The good news (at least this is the theory), the tireds and various odd pains is an indication the chemo is doing what it's suppose to... which is kill off cells. The blood test that I'll have to get after I finish the 2 week cycle of pills will determine if the good cells are generating fast enough to keep up with the killing of the good ones... and the dosage of chemo will be adjusted accordingly.

Onwards we go!! Tally-ho!!!

Cheryl

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - Holy Kaka! $$$

Yes, it's me again... I just had to pop in to correct something I said yesterday that wasn't quite right. Yes, I am starting the oral chemo tomorrow morning and yes I take it twice/day for two weeks each cycle (a cycle = 2 weeks of pills + 1 week of no pills), but for some reason I thought I would be popping 1 pill in the morning and 1 pill in the evening. At $75/pill, that would be $150/day. Well, I was wrong. I picked up the pills today at the BC Cancer Agency pharmacy and I will actually be taking FOUR pills twice/day. So that's 8 pills X $75 = $600/day in chemo. So one cycle of this chemo costs $8400. If my system can tolerate it, I will be going through 6 cycles, which will take me to the end of October 2010. When you are looking at figures like this in $$$'s, then I can only thank the universe that I live where I do. The BC Cancer Agency is recognized around the world for their research and drug trials and it's because of this that they cover treatments prescribed by the BC Cancer Agency oncologists. If they didn't cover it, then I suppose BC Medical would pick up part of the costs but I've never questioned that since my cancer treatments have been covered by BC Cancer Agency (my arthritis pain meds have been covered by my Extended Health Care insurance up to 80%).

But I really have to wonder how people who don't have healthcare insurance, can afford to be treated for cancer? Cancer is NOT a cheap illness... it cost mega-bucks and appears to be ongoing. When first diagnosed, there can be surgery involved as well as various diagnostic and ongoing testing/scans/etc. I know that a PET scan costs between $7000 - $9000 for one scan. I'm not sure how much a CT scan costs, I know they are much cheaper than a PET scan but then they serve a totally different function. But since Dec 2006, I must have easily had 25 CT scans. Then there were the surgeries, hospital stays, chemo sessions at the chemo unit, follow up care, home nursing care, ongoing followup monitoring, etc. Now, here we go with a new treatment of chemo, this time it will be for 4 1/2 months (vs the 8 months the last time) and it will be less intense in that I can take the pills myself without needing followup nursing care. But even so, this less intense treatment is going to end up costing over $50,000 and that's not counting any CT scans, the blood work, the oncologist appts, etc.

I just am so very, very thankful that I live surrounded by excellent doctors, researchers and specialists who are looking after my health, while also surrounded by the most incredible friends who surround me with so much support and help. It really and truly is amazing when you stop and think about just how blessed I am!

Hugggggs,

Cheryl

Monday, June 14th, 2010 - Getting ready for battle!

Helloooo bloggymates!!

Well, I'm sharpening my blogging pens/pencils/fingers and just going to have to settle down to writing more frequent blog entries. Once again, I'm heading into battle with these stew-pud cancer cells! They actually have had the gall to rear their ugly little cells and think they are going to go to battle and come out winners. Well, I have news for them... that is just not going to happen! I'll put on my war paint and go in and battle them single-handed if need be, although, I'm kind of hoping all you blogmates will join in the battle as well. We have fought this before as a team and came out victorious, so I see no reason why we can't again! :)

I had my appointment with Sharlene Gill, my oncologist who I adore. Sharlene had been on sabbatical from client practice for the last 6 months and was working on cancer research, but she is back now. And just in time!! As has been pointed out in a previous blog entry, there has been some concern about a growth in my left kidney. Also, since around Christmas, my CEA readings have been fluctuating. CEA readings are not necessarily an accurate tool for a lot of colon cancer patients but in my case, they have always been spot on. If my CEA rises, then this is usually an indication of active cancer somewhere... and each time we have found it and removed it.

Well, the CEA from last week registered at 5.2... up 2 points over the last couple of months. And the CAT scan I had done on Friday showed that the growth in the kidney has grown a couple of mm, as have two of the tumours in my lungs!! Wouldn't you know it... one tumour is at the top of one lung and the other tumour is at the bottom of the other lung. So it's not a matter of going in and zapping them, since it would mean two different sessions... with each session being a high risk of collapsing a lung. And this still wouldn't address the problem that these indolant tumours in the lungs have started growing.

Soooo... we need a plan, and my wonderful oncologist has one which she went over with me. At this point, we have no idea if the tumour in the kidney is in any way related to the tumours in the lungs. It's quite possible that the lung tumours, which we know are the spread of the colon cancer, so their origins were in the intestine/colon. The kidney tumour could actually be a new primary cancer -- kidney cancer. So, what she suggests is that I go on an oral (pill form) chemo that is known to work well on colon cancer cells. The hopes will be that this chemo will shrink the colon cancer tumours in the lungs. Meanwhile, if the tumour in the kidney IS colon cancer (it would be very unusual for colon cancer to have spread to the kidneys), then this chemo will affect it as well and could quite possibly shrink the tumour in the kidney. Not to mention, the chemo will go all through my system (systemic) so it could kill off any potential solo cells that might be floating about, looking for a place to land and take root. If the tumour in the kidney does NOT respond to the chemo, then we will know that this tumour is a new primary cancer and will have to be treated with a different treatment. What we would do then is go in and zap it with the RFA procedure. But if the chemo DOES work for it, then that would save an RFA procedure for another time when it might be needed. So we are sort of covering a couple of scenerios with this chemo plan... and this is a good thing.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I go back to the Cancer Agency to pick up my first two week cycle of chemo (in pill form). The chemo I will be going on is called Capecitabine (aka Xeloda in the US). This is the one that I took while getting radiation therapy every day for 6 weeks. At that time, I was on the IV chemo 5-Fluorouracil. Since my oncologist wanted me to still have chemo while going through the radiation, she switched me to the Capecitabine for comfort and convenience. Taking the pills would be a lot easier on me than being hooked up to my chemo pump and IV for 6 weeks straight. But, my extended health insurance (Blue Cross) didn't quite see it that way. They figured, because of the high cost of the pill form, I should stay on the IV form, so wouldn't pay for the oral form. It got a little tense because I felt like I was getting the runaround. I called my employer in Victoria at the time and I don't remember what all happened but the employer told Blue Cross to pay for the chemo... and so they did.

I was thinking, "Oh no... am I going to have to go through this all over again, since now I'm a "Retired Employee" and no longer a working employee. I still have the Extended Health Care coverage... but, you know how private insurance companies can be ;) But alas... I don't have to worry. I have not been on any kind of Chemo treatment for almost 3 years. So this is a new round of treatment that my oncologist is prescribing for me. I do not need to go and have a port placed just under my collarbone for an IV, so I won't be going through the process of going and sitting in a chemo unit for 4-5 hours every two weeks. My chemo plan will just be to pop a pill twice/day... and for that treatment, the BC Cancer Agency will cover the costs. Phew! These pills cost upwards of $75/pill and since a treatment is given over a course of 12 weeks, that works out to 112 pills at $75 a pop.

Anywho... it is getting late, so I'm going to call it quits here for this entry. I am totally planning on carrying on as normal. TUTS is getting super busy and I plan on being down there as often as ever... and if I have to take some down time should I get tired easily, then so be it. But I have worked the two summer shows in the past when I was on chemo so I don't see why that would change. Of course, this time I also am involved with Metro Theatre as well, as their publicist. The majority of my work for them is done at home on the computer, so that shouldn't change either. The way I look at it, the more I keep my life and lifestyle "normal" as in continuing my everyday things... then the more normal this time on chemo will remain.

I'll be back with more babbling but right now I need to get a few things done before I go to bed :)

Ciao for now!

Cheryl

Monday, May 24, 2010 - Queen Vicki's Birthday :)

Hello Blogmates,

Have you given up on me yet? :) It was brought to my attention today (thanks, Nelli!) that the last blog entry I had done was May 3rd. HELLOOOO? It's now May 24th, soon to be May 25th. That is 3 weeks between blog entries. I think that's way too long even for me!! But, I look at this as a good thing and I'll tell you why, even though a lot of you may not agree with my logic .

If I haven't done a blog entry, it is possible it means one of two things... 1) something has happened and I'm on my deathbed, or seriously ill, depressed and saying my goodbyes or 2) life is soooo busy and I have never been one to be able to reign that in and say, "Hold on, I need a break... I need a couple of days off just to sit at home and relax."

Chances are, you don't have to worry about #1 because if that were true, I'm SURE the word would get out pretty darn fast... and I would expect my friends who are in close contact with me and who are also on Facebook would spread the word... and we all know how fast the word travels on Facebook . No, the reality is that I'm probably up to my eyeballs in "stuff" and although there are many times I am online, the reality is we all have so many gadgets to get online, to Twitter, to Facebook, etc. that I can do that (and have) from my phone! LOL! I rarely use my phone to actually call anyone and talk... the phone is used as a mini-computer. I LOVE MY iPHONE!!! And yes, I am totally in awe of the world of technology that we live in. Oh sure, I have been an online junkie since the late 80s, when some of us can claim to be pioneers of this online communications... back in the day when so many of my friends thought I was crazy and had no idea what it meant to be on a proprietary (pre-internet) service like GEnie. But even though it has been 20+ years that I've been involved with online communications, I'm still in awe of the technology behind all our computers and cellphones/mini-computers.

Ok, but I digress... life is good! I am not too seriously concerned about my health at the moment... not sure if that is a smart thing or not. But if I go by my gut instinct, I feel that I'm doing just fine and although I am living with cancer (and some of the leftover residuals of the cancer treatments), I am not currently dying from cancer. I am one very lucky gal, I think. But yes, the doctors are all still involved and yes, they are still watching me like a hawk. I seem to be an enigma to them (which is not a bad thing) and because of that, I don't just fit into one of their little boxes where the stats say I should fall. IE: Stage IV is not the staging that one wants to have when they have cancer because that is the "last stage". But, call it luck, call it where the stars line up, or call it one's believe in a higher place... my body is not following the stats of a Stage IV colon cancer... and I'm just fine with that. Yes, the cancer has spread (that's what makes it a Stage IV) and we know there are about 10 nodules on the lungs... but they have either not grown or have been growing so slowly over the last 3 1/2 years, they are classified as "indolent" (lazy). This is one time I like being able to say I'm lazy :) So as far as I'm concerned, they can remain indolent for the next 20-30 years, thank you very much :)

The "growth" (for lack of a better term) in my left kidney is something we are going to have to deal with, but it is not a life and death issue... like that intern oncologist led me to believe. Once again, it just proves that when you are given bad news, don't panic... the bad news is one person's opinion. Do NOT dwell on it.. get a second opinion and if need be a third opinion. This intern oncologist was adamant that since they didn't know what this growth was, and that is was highly suspicious considering my cancer history.. it had to come out. But not just the growth, the whole kidney. Even I thought that was a bit drastic and I don't even play a doctor on TV!! But I went along with the plan to be referred to a kidney surgeon because I wanted another opinion and from a different perspective. Sure enough, this surgeon was more in line with my thoughts. He feels that the growth should come out at some point, preferably before it grows to any kind of size that might give me some discomfort... but no, he was adamant that he would never recommend taking the whole kidney out. If the kidney was full of these growths, or if the growth was deep in the kidney where a surgeon couldn't get at it, then maybe. But where it is on my kidney is very accessible and in a very common place, so he recommends just removing it... and if we are going to do that, then to do it with the least invasive procedure which is the Radio Frequency Ablation. NOW we are talking my kind of language!

Too boot, he doesn't feel there's any rush to remove it because even if it is malignant, the chances of it spreading outside of the kidney is very very low... so he wanted to run it by a committee of surgeons, oncologists and other assorted specialists. They unanimously agreed with our plan of removal by RFA, but also recommended that since my next scheduled regular CT scan is on June 9th, let's wait until after that CT scan and see if there's been any activity... and we'll go from there. It may be worth our while to just watch and wait if nothing is happening with it.

Soooo, that's all there is to my health issues. We are in a wait until the CT scan and then we'll determine after that scan whether anything need be done right away or ?? Meanwhile, I continue on being busy, busy, busy and my complaints just are all about arthritis and nerve damage pain. Some days are obviously much better than others... and other days, I have to wait until the meds kick in before I can get up and at 'em :)

Meanwhile... what is this retiree up to?? Well, we are getting busier and busier at TUTS (Theatre Under the Stars). Both shows are in rehearsal and the office is a hive of activity. I currently spend 3 afternoons/evenings a week down at the office, and 3 days a week on Metro Theatre publicity. Well, currently, I'm spending 4 days/week on Metro because not only is there the publicity of the last two shows of the season (current one is Agatha Christie's AND THEN THERE WAS NONE), there's also getting the website updated with all the information for the new 2010/2011 season, and right now there's the quarterly eNewsletter which the next issue is due to go out June 1st. So this computer work for all the Metro stuff keeps me busy day and night when I'm at home.

I have started to actually schedule "RETIREMENT DAYS OFF", one, and if I'm lucky, two every week. These days off are to do things like laundry, apartment chores, paperwork, bill paying and social visits with friends who have nothing to do with either TUTS or Metro (or they might be involved, but a time for us to go out for lunch or dinner or to see another company's production, etc). Hahaha... if I don't schedule these days off on my calendar, I seriously get caught up in working on one or the other 7 days/week!!

This past Saturday, we had a lovely party at our friend, Naveen's house. It was the first time we all could get together and just socialize... and I loved it. Although, I was really tired and my arthritis was really acting up. But I think it was acting up because I had been on the go for 7 days straight... hence where my weakness shows up. I'm not as young as I was back in the days when I would work the day job 5 days/week and then do my theatre fun in the evenings and on the weekends... yet I still seem to book myself as if I were! LOL! I look at all the kids in the shows.. most of them hold down full time jobs, then come to rehearsals, then party, go out to movies, other shows, dance classes, voice lessons, etc. and just thinking of their schedule exhausts me. So I figure my schedule is nothing compared to theirs... until I actually look at it and realize I forget to schedule down time for myself :)

So, there it is, friends, proof that I'm doing just fine! If I was having any kind of serious health issues, you know there would be no way I could keep up this pace. So as long as I'm busy, busy, busy and having fun... I figure I'm ahead of the game and I'm winning :)

Meanwhile, there are a kajillion other things I also want to be involved in/with. I want to get more involved with my photography that I've sort of dropped the ball on. I want to be able to read a whole bunch more! I have been loving getting out to see my friends who have just recently had their babies, so I get to be an Auntie to all these new babes. I got to see my Grand-nephew for the first time this past weekend. Little Kolt Wilhelm was due this past week (May 17) but he decided to arrive early... 2 MONTHS early and was born by emergency C-Section on March 17th. He was 3 lbs 1 oz when he was born and was in the hospital for over a month... but he is doing fine now and is at home and now weighs 8 lbs. So he is a bit more than a newborn weight, 2 months later... and he is an absolute doll!! And strong too... he's a fighter, alright!! I fell totally in love with him yesterday and hopefully Helen (his mommy) will send me a picture of him and I real soon :)

Ok... it's now 11pm, Monday night. The long weekend is now almost over, so it's back to the TUTS office tomorrow. But first, I must take wee Miss Bridget out for the last pee of the evening, and then I think the two of us may just climb into bed to watch the news :)

Ta ta for now!!

Cheryl